Forsaken
by hetafan13
Summary: Alfred works day and night to create the perfect, most human-like companion he can—though perhaps he made him /too/ human, in the end... at far too large of a price. AU.


**Title:** Forsaken

**Rating:** T

**Summary:** Alfred works day and night to create the perfect, most human-like companion he can—though perhaps he made him _too_ human, in the end... at far too large of a price. AU.

**Author's Note:** Just a little something I free-wrote while listening to Mary's theme on loop ( watch/?v=5qxWyMIANwY ). Hopefully it's at least halfway decent. XDD;; As usual, I'd like to give a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge thanks to the amazing takanobaka (previously gnortaku) for betaing this for me!

* * *

Alfred lived alone, and he hated every minute of it. There was no one to talk to, no one to laugh with... just Alfred and his thoughts.

Everyone thought he was crazy, and refused to come anywhere near his home—honestly, just because he loved science didn't make him insane! Sure, he might have dabbled in a few areas that made even _him_ balk in hindsight, but he was a perfectly normal person, just like everyone else!

But no one else saw him that way, and so Alfred lived his days all by himself, in a house that was far too large for just one single person to live in.

* * *

A thought suddenly hit Alfred upon looking through his books one day.

_If no one in the village wants anything to do with me, then why not make something—some__**one**__—myself? Someone who won't be afraid to be near me, someone who won't think that I'm a freak or that I'm crazy, someone that I can actually smile and laugh with?_

He gathered all of his research materials, feeling excited in the first time since... well, he couldn't even remember how long it had been since he last felt this excited to start a new project.

Alfred worked day in and day out for years on end, pouring through books upon books of previously compiled research notes as he experimented with this and that. He even went so far as to dig into his old alchemy notes (that he swore he would never touch again) as he worked to create the perfect companion.

_Not too tall, but not too short either... blonde hair like me... but he can't look exactly like me, that would be too weird, so maybe green eyes instead of blue..._.

Alfred grinned, sketching out what his companion would look like—he would be the most perfect companion in the whole world, so much so that Alfred wouldn't _need_ anyone from the village to be his friend!

The next part was a bit tricky—creating something from nothing was impossible as far as he knew, especially when that "something" was a human soul (or the closest thing he could get to one, anyway). It took a few tries, but Alfred finally, somehow, managed to pull it off—in theory, at least: he had created the perfect life-sized marionette, and was now placing it in the middle of a carefully-constructed transmutation circle. _Everything is perfect... There's no way this can go wrong. I've spent the last five years working to get to this moment, it __**has**__ to go right..._

It was a long, lengthy process, and Alfred momentarily feared that it would end up failing after all, when suddenly the marionette twitched.

Alfred watched in shock as the marionette slowly sat up, its—_his_—wooden eyes morphing into softer, more human-like ones as he blinked and looked around. His wooden body softened into something resembling skin, though his joints were still marionette-like and his strings were still visible. Alfred figured that it was close enough. As long as he could move around on his own, then Alfred considered this half-decade-long experiment a huge success.

Alfred walked over to the marionette-turned-human, looking down at him in shock and only snapping out of it when said marionette-turned-human glared up at him, scowling.

"What are you looking at?"

Alfred's blinked, stunned—he hadn't expected the marionette to be able to talk right off the bat, nor had he expected him to have such a... sour attitude. (His voice was surprisingly pleasant to listen to, however, despite coming from a mouth that moved slightly awkwardly as he talked.)

"Uh... well, I'm looking at you, I guess."

"Well, stop looking at me and get me something to wear!"

"Uh... sure...?"

* * *

That hadn't exactly been what Alfred would have chosen as his first conversation with his life-long partner at the moment, but as time went on, Alfred found that it fit them and their dynamic perfectly. Day in and day out, Arthur (as Alfred called him) would scowl and glare and make sharp comments, only smiling when he thought that Alfred wasn't looking, and Alfred in turn would be as bright and chipper as he could possibly be, pleased to finally have someone to spend his time with. He noticed that he seemed to be feeling slightly sluggish as the days went on, but he brushed it off as him working too hard to teach Arthur everything that he could.

Alfred found to his (pleased) surprise that Arthur was able to eat and drink like a human, and breathe like a human, and sleep like a human, and that everything about him was _human_ and not some piece of clunky wood moving around his house. He also found to his surprise that Arthur was able to feel—not only physically, but emotionally as well. Arthur could experience anger, and happiness, and disappointment, and excitement, and all sorts of different emotional states just like any other human.

Despite knowing how to speak, it seemed that Arthur didn't actually know very much about the world, so Alfred took great pleasure in sitting Arthur down with all of his books and teaching Arthur everything that he knew. Arthur, in turn, seemed to soak up all of this new information, and to Alfred's pleasure, he began acting (and looking) more and more human every day.

He could even love, as they both found out.

Alfred loved Arthur from the moment he first started moving—and how could he not? He'd put so much time and effort into making him, trying to create the perfect companion for himself: and not only had he succeeded in that, but it seemed that Arthur was exceeding his expectations as well. He was even more perfect than Alfred imagined he'd be. Arthur, on the other hand, had seemed to hate him at first before he'd gradually warmed up to him. Eventually, Alfred was able to tell Arthur that he loved him and Arthur would actually reciprocate with a blush and a forced scowl. He usually tacked on something like "idiot" or "moron" on the end, but by this point those were beginning to feel less like insults and more like pet names.

The moment they shared their first kiss was the moment they sealed their fates.

* * *

"Arthur! Your strings are gone!"

Alfred grinned—they'd been living together for almost two years now, and Arthur had almost fully become human by this point. The only thing that showed that he'd been a marionette at all being the strings connected to his joints.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, they were gone when I woke up this morning."

Alfred grinned, pulling Arthur into a kiss. "That's great! That means that you're fully human now!" Alfred couldn't wait to take Arthur into the village with him so Arthur could see more of the world than just what was inside and around his house.

Ignoring the slightly odd feeling he got whenever he moved—almost like a stiffness, though he figured it was probably due to sitting around too much and not getting enough exercise—Alfred eagerly pulled Arthur towards the front door. Arthur stumbled along behind him and yelled at him to slow down as he practically dragged Arthur in the direction of the village.

As Alfred figured, the villagers all gave the two of them odd looks, whispering amongst themselves and steering clear of the couple, but Alfred didn't care. Even just walking around outside with Arthur made him even happier than he ever imagined it would, especially as he saw Arthur looking around at everything with almost childlike intrigue and awe.

He hardly even noticed the way Arthur's eyes locked with one other villager's for a moment, too focused on showing Arthur around the village.

* * *

"Can we go to the village again today, Alfred?"

Alfred blinked in surprise at Arthur's request before grinning. "Sure! We can do whatever you want to do, Artie!"

"I keep telling you not to call me that, idiot," Arthur shot back without any bite, the response almost automatic after two years of that same nickname.

The two of them finished their meals before Alfred led Arthur out the door and into town, smiling as he watched Arthur look around curiously.

Again, Arthur's eyes locked with the same person, a scowl tugging at his lips in response to the stranger's smirk, and again, Alfred failed to notice this as he idly observed the village, wandering away for a moment to look at some of the fruit at a nearby stand. "Hey Artie, c'mere, I don't think you've tried these yet, have you?"

Arthur stopped himself from moving towards the curiously new and different stranger as Alfred called him, instead moving over to Alfred's side. "Those red ones, you mean? No, I don't believe I have... What are they called?"

"They're called strawberries! You'll love 'em, trust me!" Alfred bought a pack, and Arthur took that moment to look around as Alfred made the transaction in an attempt to spot the stranger again.

"Arthur, c'mon, let's go!" Alfred took Arthur's hand, bringing Arthur's attention back to himself as they walked hand in hand back towards Alfred's house.

* * *

For the next few months, Arthur continuously requested to take trips into the village—and Alfred happily walked with him to the village and back home each time. He honestly believed that Arthur just enjoyed being outdoors and away from the house that he'd been pretty much confined to for the past two years.

Alfred did seem to notice, however, that he got more and more odd and wary looks every time he went into the village; he also noticed that he was having a much more difficult time walking around as time went on—or moving in general, for that matter. It only hit him properly when he happened to catch sight of his reflection one day.

"... I-I... I'm..."

He whirled around to face Arthur, who had appeared behind him at some point without him noticing. His body trembled with fear and his eyes filled with tears as he spoke in a frantic, shaky voice. "Arthur, what's going on?! What's happening to me?! You... d-didn't you notice anything? Why didn't you say anything?"

Arthur's expression darkened slightly. "... Alfred, you should know this better than anyone else. You can't make something from nothing: that's the law of equivalent exchange."

Alfred's legs gave out on him, and he fell to the floor in a heap, the noise he made upon hitting the floor sending a shudder down his spine—it sounded far too much like the _clunk_ of wood against the ground...

"But I... I didn't want this..." Alfred looked up at Arthur, tears streaming down his face as he silently begged Arthur for help, for sympathy, for _something_ other than that look of acceptance and understanding, that look that seemed to say "I knew this was going to happen, so why didn't you?" His trembling only worsened as he tried to reach up to Arthur, only to see the glint of strings attached to his joints, which seemed to be becoming more, well, _disjointed_, as though they were barely and crudely attached... just like on a marionette. "Arthur... please, help me... I-I just... I just didn't want to be alone, I just wanted someone to smile with, to talk with, to laugh with, to love... I love you, Arthur, I love you so much, please help me—"

"... I'm sorry, Alfred. I don't think we were ever meant to be together."

"... What...?"

Arthur glanced away sadly. "I don't... I mean, I think I did at first, and I... suppose I have to thank you for teaching me what it feels like, but... I don't think I love you. I thought I did, but... I feel something stronger for _him_, something I don't feel around you."

_Oh God... this can't be happening... please, let this be some sort of nightmare, please just let me wake up already..._

"I'm sorry, Alfred. If I recall correctly, it took about a year or so for everything but my strings to disappear—and it's already been almost a year again since that point. With every day that I became more human, you began becoming less human—and now, I'd imagine that you only have a few weeks left until you fully transform. I suppose I can stay with you until then, as a thank you for trading your life for mine, but... it wouldn't make sense for me to spend my years here alone, loving an inanimate object, when there are other living, breathing people out there. You understand that, right?"

Alfred kept his eyes locked on Arthur the entire time that Arthur spoke. He wasn't sure what hurt worse—Arthur's words, or the sincere expression on his face.

"I... understand..." Alfred forced those words out, trying his best to be happy for Arthur despite how much it was killing him inside.

_I just wanted someone to love me... everyone in the village hates me and is afraid of me, and I just... I was so lonely... and just when I thought I'd finally found the answer to my problems, I ended up just making things so much worse. Now Arthur's going to leave me, and... and then what? Will I even still be conscious if I lose my humanity? Will I just be trapped in a marionette's body for the rest of eternity, all alone, unable to move or talk or do __**anything**__?_

That was the thought that scared him the most—terrified him, even. He desperately reached out to Arthur once more, managing to wrap his arms around Arthur's body and bury his face in Arthur's chest, his sobs racking his frame as he clung to Arthur like a man drowning.

The fingers gently running through his hair and the kiss to the top of his head only made him sob even harder than before, Alfred crying until he physically couldn't cry anymore.

"... I'm scared... I don't want to be alone, not again..."

Arthur remained silent, merely continuing to run his fingers through Alfred's hair—for all the things that he'd learned in his two years with Alfred, the one thing he'd never obtained nor learned was fear, and thus he had no idea how to respond to it. Though, even if he had been able to comprehend the emotion and how to deal with it, there really wouldn't have been much that he could have said or done—Alfred's fate had been set in stone when he gave Arthur his life... his humanity.

Instead, he merely held Alfred through the night, and through the next few days, watching as he began to lose more and more of his humanity—the ability to move, the ability to speak, the ability to feel, the ability to hear, the ability to see... His skin gradually turned to wood; his hair turned to straw; his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears turned to mere indentations in his head.

Arthur sighed, hefting up the life-size, and currently life-_less_, marionette from the couch where they had just been sitting. He brought it up to Alfred's bedroom and laid it carefully down on the bed.

Even if he didn't love Alfred anymore, he was still filled with respect and eternal gratitude for his sacrifice—after all, without Alfred, Arthur wouldn't be alive.

"I'm sorry, Alfred... and thank you. Goodbye."

He shut the bedroom door and left Alfred's house without another word.

* * *

_Arthur, where are you? It's dark, I'm scared... I can't hear anything, I can't see anything, I can't feel anything... Please, help me, please don't leave me, please come back, Arthur..._

_I love you, Arthur, please don't leave me..._


End file.
